Q: What are the situations in which mind wandering may occur?
A: Mind-wandering mostly occurs during driving, reading (most striking context) and other activities that are non-demanding tasks where one does not need to pay a lot of careful attention.
Q: Is mind wandering beneficial?
A: A study published in 2012 showed that the content of mind-wandering is predominantly focused on events that relate to the future; it also showed that individuals with high working memory capacity are more likely to engage in prospective mind-wandering. Put together the study suggests that mind-wandering can enable prospective cognitive operations that are likely to be useful as individuals navigate through their daily lives.
Q: What is the relationship between mind wandering and creativity?
A: A recent study in 2012 showed that mind wandering (non-demanding activities) led to more creative solutions on the second attempt than situations that did not allow for mind-wandering (demanding tasks). In fact the study revealed that engaging in a non-demanding activity was better than not doing anything at all. Together they concluded that non-demanding activities provide greater chances of opening up creative inspirations.
